Developing Your Business Continuity Plan

Every Firestorm Business Continuity Plan is Unique

Business Continuity Plan development includes not only preparing for, and the mitigation of, major disasters (e.g. total loss of a building), but also routine interruptions to service and daily operations. It puts disaster planning in perspective and makes it more likely the impacts from crises are lessened due to predetermined response and recovery actions.

Firestorm can audit your existing plan to isolate gaps or weaknesses, and tailor a solution to address nearly every contingency. Based on findings from our reviews and analyses, Firestorm makes client-specific recommendations to manage and either eliminate or mitigate the impact of identified vulnerabilities on your company or organization. No two Firestorm plans are alike.

What Should Your Business Continuity Plan Include?

Protocols for continuity of operations, security, human resources and crisis communications are paramount; otherwise, you may not be able to meet your governance requirements. Your plan must address all manner of disasters, be they man-made or natural. It should include separate provisions for communicable illness (pandemic), identity theft, sabotage, and access to facilities and systems.

In addition to a business continuity plan, Firestorm recommends creating supporting documents which include emergency response plans (flip-books) for the Crisis Management Team & Incident Response Team, Safety Coordinators, and employees, as well as wallet cards for all employees and visitor evacuation signs to assist clients and guests.

The BCP must be a permanent addition to the overall business continuity program and respond to natural as well as human induced crises. Features of the plan should help ensure the overall preparedness and the effectiveness of your company’s business environment.

Our business continuity plan development addresses the following:

Recovery prioritization structure for critical business functions

Response and recovery actions by functional department

Identification of critical suppliers

Identification of key employees

Once a plan is developed, training and testing will be essential for the plan’s success. The training, in addition to making all company employees aware of their duties under the plan, should increase employee awareness of preparedness issues, resulting in an efficient and effective response and recovery process. Testing will demonstrate areas where plans require modification.

Supporting Documents

In addition to a business continuity plan, Firestorm recommends creating supporting documents, which include emergency response plans (flip-books) for the Crisis Management Team & Incident Response Team, Safety Coordinators, and employees, as well as wallet cards for all employees and visitor evacuation signs to assist clients and guests.

Briefs and Recordings

Get the Book

Firestorm founders Harry Rhulen, Suzy Loughlin and Jim Satterfield wrote Disaster Ready People for a Disaster Ready America specifically to address the need for crisis and disaster preparedness at home, and the book has become a cornerstone of many corporate preparedness programs.

INFORMATION

Firestorm® Solutions is a division of Novume™ Solutions. Since 2005, Firestorm has assisted clients by responding to some of the largest and most complex critical incidents. The Firestorm team has over 100 years of combined experience at the highest level of security and law enforcement. Our highly-trained team is an industry leader in providing custom safety and security solutions. Firestorm empowers its clients to manage security risks through assessments, audits, program development, training and advisory services using our PREDICT.PLAN.PERFORM.® methodology.

HEADQUARTERS

In a Crisis now? Call us: (800) 321-2219

“What should we do now?” “What should we say?”

How you answer the question “What should we do now?” can have far reaching implications for your company or organization. Preparedness and Resiliency are key brand attributes for every company. Crises come as surprises. Control of events and message are lost. Impacts accelerate. Public scrutiny intensifies.

Are you ready? How do you know? Are you sure?

Most executives are trained to make decisions based upon information, data, and policy.

In a crisis,

Information is generally wrong

Data is not available

Policies do not exist

Command & control is lost

Brand & reputation are under attack

Leadership is involved and engaged personally

Impacts are disproportional

Events are escalating

Speed is quality or even survival

You are the center of media focus

The above dynamics work aggressively against traditional empirical management decision processes. Decisions must be made quickly with limited and often incorrect information.

A crisis is not business as usual. A crisis is business as unusual.

Crises have a short duration, but have consequences that can determine the viability of a business or organization for years to come. If you are explaining, you are losing.

Crises have impacts – for good and bad. Every crisis starts with a combination of opportunity and danger. Where the risk/crisis conundrum balances depends upon your initial critical decisions, your crisis communications, your monitoring of events, and your adjustments made to strategy and actions as events develop. Your company’s reputation, brand, legacy, and profitability hang in the balance in a crisis. Crises are personal. Every crisis is a human crisis. It is your company. It is your people. It is your brand. It is your reputation. It is your career. Doing the wrong thing or doing nothing can create a point of no return.

We Help Clients Take Control of Crisis

In crisis, we assist senior management in developing or implementing a Crisis Management Plan. We provide advice and insight to help managers make crucial decisions, and communication experts to assist with social media communications and public relations. Our Senior Team is ready to help your senior team.

Don’t Let Your First Response Become Your Second Crisis

As the leading crisis management company, our founders, executives, principals, and Executive Council are available to assist as needed. We put together the right team for you.

Call Us Today for a free assessment and discover how we can help in calm and in crisis. (800) 321-2219

Firestorm® Solutions, a division of Novume Solutions (NASDAQ: NVMM), is a leading crisis and risk management firm and America’s CRISIS COACH®. Since 2005, Firestorm has assisted clients in transforming crisis into value by responding to some of the largest and most complex crisis events as well as combining best-practice consulting with proven crisis management expertise. Firestorm empowers clients to manage crisis and risk through assessments, audits, program development, insurance partnerships, training and advisory services using the PREDICT.PLAN.PERFORM.® methodology.